Wednesday, 24 September 2014

Read in 2014 - 35: Kepler

Three book reviews in a row, maybe more to come, and nothing else on my blog? Don't worry, there will be other posts again. I have just been exceptionally busy this month, which meant more time to read - an apparent contradiction, but it is none if you consider that I read a lot on the train, and being busy at a customer's office means I travel there 5 or 6 days a week instead of just 3 days. So, normal business should soon be resumed!

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You know my habit of feeding
my brain with non-fiction every now and then, particularly needing
something more substantial after I have been reading a book that was a
bit on the shallow side (NOT referring to "The Headland" here!).

“Kepler”, a biography by Walter W. Bryant and first published in 1920, certainly was substantial enough – even too
substantial in those parts where the author (from the Royal Observatory in Greenwich) describes in much detail all
the equations and theories Kepler and other astronomers
before him worked out. I must admit I quick-read several chapters; I
wasn’t overly interested in the exact mathematical formulas for each of
the three Kepler’s Laws of Planetary Motions, but much more in his life
and in himself as a person.

(If you are scientifically minded and want to see what I mean, have a look at the wikipedia-article and
then imagine having it all explained in mere text, without any of the illustrations.)

What I’d known about Johannes
Kepler until now was precious little enough: He lived in the 16th and
17th century, was born in Weil der Stadt (a small town not very far from
where I live) and worked as an astronomer, sometimes
in close association with Tycho Brahe. With what I have learned from
the book, a different picture emerges; that of a troubled man who was
never really able to live off his scientific work, a man who had to deal
with many problems and obstacles in both his
personal and his professional life, and who most likely was never very
happy during the 58 years of his life.

He married twice; his first
wife and several of his children died of various illnesses, no doubt due
not only to the not very hygienic circumstances people generally lived
under at the time, but also because the family
were poor and probably could not always afford good meals and what
limited medical help would have been available. Because of his constant
shortage of money (he was patronized by several high-standing persons,
for instance the Austrian emperor Rudolf, but
payment was irregular at best), he wrote and sold horoscopes on demand –
something he hated, because he knew it to be unscientific and untrue.
The political and religious changes of his times meant he frequently had
to change post and move his family from
places in Austria to Prague, to Denmark and Germany, and he even could
have gone to Italy on invitation of Galileo Galilei, but declined the
offer on the grounds of feeling it was unsafe.

To top all the problems
coming from outside, he was physically weak and affected by vision
problems due to having nearly died from smallpox as a child. Knowing all
this, his great efforts in achieving something in the
world of science seem even greater. Although his own knowledge was
limited (for instance, Newton had not yet discovered the Law of
Gravity), his work became crucial to the further development of
astronomy.

Like I said, I had not known
much about Kepler until reading this book. It was well worth it, because
I now have a more complete picture of someone who did not give up
easily in the face of adversities.

Not much can be found about the author with a superficial research; his name is listed several times in connection with various posts at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich for the years 1892 to 1923; apparently, he died in office as Superintendent of the Magnetical and Meteorological Department on 31 January 1923. He wrote other books and scientific articles, too, but little seems to have been recorded about himself.

4 comments:

How interesting. I had not heard of him before. Reading your post heading catapulted me back in time, immediately remembering Kepler's Books in Menlo Park. It was named after a different Kepler and was an excellent bookstore, where we spent many hours. I was working in an esoteric bookstore just down the block at the time and often just walked over during my lunchtime. Right next to Kepler's Books was one of our other favorite hangouts - Cafe Borrone. I still sometimes think of their frosted mocha or their corn chowder. Thanks for the memories!! xoxo Silke

The name Kepler always brings back some memories to me, too; my paternal grandfather used to live in a house on Keplerstr. in my home town. My Dad grew up in that house, and before my grandfather moved away to be nearer to one of his daughtrs, we went visiting there regularly. I still walk past that house often on my way home from work, and always think about what it was like back then.

I would have skipped the equations too, it is only the person's story that I care about.I like the idea of you on the train and being able to read, that's wonderful! I remember reading "The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole" on the train in England in 1985 (showing my age) and laughing out loud, but when folks saw what I was reading, they understood.The trains in 1985 were much nicer than they are in 2014!!

I LOVE Adrian Mole and have read all the books! The first one I read when I was a teenager myself, I think; my Mum recommended it to me. It must have been new then, so it was possibly around the year 1985, too.Using the time for reading is nearly the only thing I like about my trip to and from work. I do occasionally look out of the window, but most of the journey is through industrial estates or past very average houses, and of course I've seen it all so many times now, it only gets interesting when the seasons are changing (as they are doing right now).